Amid crime surge, some Erie City Council members oppose hiring 9 new police officers

The hiring of nine new Erie police officers, funded via a portion of the city’s $76 million American Rescue Plan allocation, has sparked disagreement and debate among some members of Erie City Council and Mayor Joe Schember's administration.

Resolutions that would approve the nine new probationary officers are on Erie City Council’s Wednesday meeting agenda.

Schember’s administration wants to hire up to 21 new officers this year as part of a $14.5 million plan, approved by City Council in December, to boost public safety at a time when juvenile crime and other violent offenses are spiking citywide, fueled partly by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The salaries for the nine officers that council members could vote on Wednesday night total nearly $453,000.

However, at least two of City Council’s seven members, Chuck Nelson and Jasmine Flores, question the long-term effect of the hires on the city’s budget or the need for additional officers. Those council members are signaling they could vote against the hires.

Nelson and Flores had not yet taken office when council unanimously approved the $14.5 million police plan on Dec. 1.

At least four members of City Council must approve the hirings.

Council meets Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Bagnoni Council Chambers at City Hall, 626 State St.

"I'm not complaining about the work or services of the EPD, good and hard-working men and women,” Nelson wrote in a Sunday e-mail to his City Council colleagues and other city officials. “I'm complaining about the cost efficiencies.”

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Nelson said that, according to his research, Erie already spends nearly 40% of its yearly budget on its police force, a percentage he believes is too high given the city’s population, finances and how much money similar-sized cities allocate for police annually.

The 173-member Erie Bureau of Police is budgeted at $39.6 million for 2022.

Nelson told the Times-News he plans to vote against the hirings on Wednesday.

“I just want to make sure the taxpayers are getting good, cost-efficient services,” Nelson said.

Flores said she also plans to vote "no" on Wednesday. She and Nelson have said previously they want to see more of the city's ARP funding allocated to youth programs that keep young people away from crime and negative influences.

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“I cannot in good faith vote in favor of something that we can’t really afford,” Flores said. “Just because we have the ARP funds now doesn’t mean we’re always going to have them to fund these positions.

“And our youth need investment and encouragement, not more police,” Flores said. “We are in a crisis in this community and I honestly believe it is because we have prioritized enforcement and our police. And what City Council voted on in December has nothing to do with what I’m voting on Wednesday. I wasn’t sworn in until January.”

There is support for the new hires.

Council President Liz Allen and colleagues Mel Witherspoon and Michael Keys have told the Erie Times-News they will support the hirings.

"I plan to vote in the affirmative," Keys said. "I hope that having the extra officers on the street is a benefit to the city."

Councilmen Ed Brzezinski and Maurice Troop could not be reached for comment.

The nine probationary city police officers City Council could vote on Wednesday are:

• Joshua Nelson

• Terrance Dawdy

• Tyshawn Parker

• Luigi Yates

• Destiny Glass

• Rebecca Gross

• William Barber

• Ryan Oakley

• Alex Miller

They would each earn an initial yearly salary of $50,205.

Public safety pitch

Schember and Erie Bureau of Police Chief Dan Spizarny pushed hard for the $14.5 million policing proposal approved by City Council in December.

The plan uses a portion of the city’s $76 million ARP allocation. It would reinstate the police's Juvenile Crime Unit at a time when juvenile crime is surging in the city and is being debated in the aftermath of the April 5 shooting at Erie High School that injured one student and the fatal April 14 shooting of 7-year-old Antonio Yarger Jr. near his Downing Avenue home.

The police bureau’s juvenile unit went away in 2005 because of city budget issues that led to the elimination of the jobs of 40 city officers.

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Further, the ARP-funded plan calls for reinstating the bureau's crisis car, to handle crisis calls related to mental health, homeless and domestic incidents; adding officers to the police bureau's Neighborhood Action Team and the Police Athletic League and Community Outreach Program, and providing equipment and vehicles to those officers.

Spizarny pointed out that between 2000 and 2005, there were 25 homicides in the city and none involved juveniles — suspects/defendants or victims who were under the age of 18.

However, between 2015 and June of this year the city has seen 69 homicides, and 13 involve juvenile suspects/defendants, according to Erie police data. Four of those homicide victims were juveniles.

"The lack of a juvenile unit "to hold children accountable for minor crimes and divert them from criminal activity appears to be a factor in the clearly visible increase homicides, juvenile suspects and juvenile victims," Spizarny said.

Renee Lamis, Schember's chief of staff, added: “We’re not just giving $14.5 million to the police department. This is about addressing specific issues.

“The whole idea is to get new officers on the street and specially train a number of officers to work more closely with mental health providers, the (Erie) School District, juvenile probation and others, so they would have specific training to deal with homelessness, mental health issues, domestic violence and other situations," Lamis said. "Neighborhood groups, residents and others have all been reaching out asking us for this kind of help.

“These issues were exacerbated by the pandemic,” Lamis continued. “These are all preventative strategies to get people services so that they don’t end up in the criminal justice system.”

Lamis added that there is racial and gender diversity among the nine officer candidates: two Black males, two white females and five white males.

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“We have also spent time and money vetting them," Lamis said. "They’re all ready to start on June 27 and they’ve already given notice to their current employers. We would have to start all of this over if they're not approved."

City officials, Lamis said, also believe the long-term cost of adding new officers will be mitigated significantly by attrition.

“We have 10-plus police retirements every year,” she said. “And we're already exploring grant funding and other sources that could potentially pay for the new officers when ARP funds are gone.”

'Additional resources'

Council President Liz Allen said she believes Schember’s administration and the police bureau “have made their case” for how the $14.5 million would be used, which is why she supported the plan in December and continues to endorse it.

“The real comparison we need to zero in on is what is happening in Erie right now in terms of crime, especially gun violence, and resources,” Allen said. “I like the way EPD has worked with mental health providers on this new initiative.

“This funding, for now, will give the Erie Bureau of Police the staffing and the additional resources necessary to meet the challenges we are facing right now,” Allen said.

Molly Brechtel, an organizer with the local social justice group Erie County United, said the organization is urging its members and citizens to attend Wednesday night’s City Council meeting.

Brechtel opposes the new police hires.

“It’s absurd to me that at a time when violence prevention efforts are begging for funding, that the city is voting on increasing the police budget,” Brechtel said.

The funding plan, Bechtel said, ”is not going to address the root causes of violence” such as poverty.

Allen said she understands that Nelson and Flores did not approve the plan in late 2021, and disagree with that vote.

“But why would Nelson and some of my council colleagues wait until June to try to change this funding plan?” Allen said. “Certainly they were aware or should have been aware that this funding was committed already.”

Wednesday night’s meeting can be viewed on the city’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ETNflowers.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Policing debate: Will Erie City Council OK hiring 9 new officers?